What are panic attacks and how to deal with them?

Panic attacks seem to be some half-myth, semi-pretense for those who have never experienced this.

But people who have experienced an attack at least once do not need to explain, what is the panic attack of , they are afraid of the repetition of this nightmare, they are intensively looking for salvation from it.

I think my article will be interesting to both, because it's always interesting to learn something new.

What are panic attacks, according to doctors?

Panic attack stands apart from all other mental disorders.

Firstly, because of its wide prevalence: about 10% of the adult population of megacities even once in their life faced a panic attack.

Secondly, because in addition to psychological symptoms necessarily also appear bodily vegetative signs.

This is why in our country this attack is most often called autonomic crisis, cardioneurosis, vegetovascular dystonia with a crisis current, although the term "panic attack" is official in the medical literature and was first used in 1980.

If we explain scientifically what panic attacks are, then the simplest and most understandable seems to be the designation: it is an attack of causeless strongest fear( panic), which appears unexpectedly and is accompanied by powerful vegetative symptoms.

How do I know if I have a panic attack?

To confuse the symptoms of a panic attack with something else is almost impossible, because they are very pronounced.

The doctor treats the most common symptoms:

1. The heart begins to pound in the chest at a frenzied pace, the pulse is so fast that it is difficult to measure.
2. Muscle cramps.
3. You start to suffocate, it seems that the air with great difficulty falls into the lungs.
4. Sweat starts to flow down the body( or only in the palms of your hands), even if it's cold enough indoors or outdoors.
5. Blood pressure rises sharply, which can be accompanied by noise in the ears or "knocking" in the temples.
6. The guts and stomach seem to be twisted into a tight knot, you become sick.
7. Herds of huge shivers run through the body, you are shivering.
8. The hands or the whole body starts to tremble uncontrollably.
9. Even in a familiar place, you begin to feel that everything that happens to you is somehow unreal, you see the reality distorted.
10. Begins to feel dizzy, down to unconsciousness.

How to get rid of a phobia?

But, perhaps, the most pronounced symptom of the panic attack, thanks to which it got its name - fear( panic) is absolutely causeless and appeared unexpectedly.

People who survive the vegetative crisis, say that they never feared anything as much as they did during the attack.

Why do panic attacks occur?

Panic attacks, as a phenomenon, have not been completely investigated yet, although a lot has been done by domestic and foreign psychiatrists in this direction.

Often the doctor can easily find out why the attack occurred and what to do to prevent it from reappearing, but sometimes it takes several sessions to find out what exactly led to a vegetative crisis.

Scientists agree that most panic attacks occur when several main causes of their occurrence appear in the complex:

1. Hereditary predisposition.
2. Frequent hit in stressful situations.
3. Experienced psychological trauma the day before.
4. The hormonal background failed.
5. Emotional pressure from other people.
6. Reception of psychotropic / narcotic drugs.
7. Physical and mental overwork.
8. Depression and other mental disorders. Diseases of the heart, pancreas and thyroid.
9. Weak tolerance of physical activity, etc.

These symptoms alone are not so terrible one by one, but at least three of them in the complex can cause a panic attack.

What is a panic attack? A nightmare that should not happen again!

Do you know what is the main malignancy of a panic attack?

The fact that she creeps absolutely unexpectedly and no one is immune from it.

Strong people for some reason are convinced that they will never be touched by a panic attack, they say, it's only hysterics that all start to choke, to tremble and sweat from unreasonable fear.

At least, my restrained and pedantic friend Anya was absolutely convinced of this, until she herself became a victim of a vegetarian crisis.

It all happened about the same as with the heroine of "Sex and the City" - Miranda.

Suddenly all relatives and friends began to worry that in their 25 Anya was still unmarried.

My girlfriend on this occasion did not seem to be particularly worried, but, obviously, moaning mother on the topic "oh, so you will remain an unneeded old maid, you will fall on the street there will not be anyone to call" deeply settled in her in the subcortex and in one beautifulthe moment did not come out and did not invite a panic attack.

This happened in the metro, surrounded by a large number of people.

Anya says she has never experienced such horror and hopes that she will never experience anything like that again.

It's just awful when you understand with your mind that nothing terrible has happened, that there is no reason to react this way, but for some reason you can not pull yourself together and normalize your heartbeat, take control of your breathing and stop trembling in your hands.

With grief in half, a friend got out of the subway and gradually, breathing in and out of the frosty air, was able to recover.

But it also happens that a person can not cope with himself and needs to be hospitalized.

How to calm down after stress?

How to deal with panic attacks?

Bad news for those who have ever experienced a panic attack: a greater share of the likelihood that such horror you can survive again, so after the first experience you should see a doctor to find out what caused the vegetative crisis and how to cure this dirty trick.

Moreover, it is possible that you will have to undergo an examination with a psychiatrist, a neurologist, and a cardiologist.

Attacks of panic attacks are treated:

• Sessions of psychotherapy.

  It's natural to conduct them yourself is impossible, even with the appropriate diploma, so you'll have to find a good specialist who will not allow the re-emergence of the vegetative crisis.

• Medication.

  Psychotropic medications and tranquilizers for the treatment of panic attacks should be taken only after receiving a prescription from a doctor.

  But calming herbal preparations, mild sedatives such as "Persen" or "Novo-Passita" can be purchased at the pharmacy and independently.

It is not superfluous to learn how to get out of the state of panic on your own and how to help another person cope with a panic attack if you witnessed such a crisis:

1. Take control of your breathing.

   Inhale and exhale in small equal portions of air until you feel that you are no longer suffocating.

2. Focus on something real that surrounds you to convince yourself: you are here, nothing threatens you.
3. Do your brain with something: perform simple mathematical exercises, remember the birthdays of relatives, etc.

A few more tips and exercises,

to quickly get out of the state of panic attack,

are listed in the video:

Little to know, what panic attacks are , you also need to understand how and what to treat them.

If you feel that you are not able to cope with the seizure yourself, do not hesitate to ask for support from others: ask someone to call an ambulance - doctors will definitely help you.